Alma 1
Alma 1
Nehor, Nehor, Nehor, oh how you sound like so many out there today! Proclaiming what you term the truth, buying people's allegiance with lies and and misperceptions, playing to their vanity. And how easily the people succumbed.
Of course they did. He made the path wide and easy. He removed the struggle, the accountability and humility and replaced it with selfishness, laziness and pride.
Sinning always seems the path of least resistance. But we see in the end of this chapter (and pretty much all cases of sinful behavior) that it is not the path to happiness. Only righteousness is.
This man, Nehor, he claimed to be a man of God, killed an elderly hero because he didn't like what he had to say. It's amazing how a wicked and weak mind can justify sinful and destructive behavior!
Then I look at the righteous who, in spite of other church members going astray and fighting, held steadfast and immovable, continually living the gospel they knew to be true. I think of people being offended when I read this. How many people do we know wait, watch and judge other members, then stop coming to church because they have been hurt or offended by someone in the church? I've known quite a few. It's sad, really. In fact, it's really sad.
There is no elequance, only truth, to this sentence: People should attend church because of their relationship to Heavenly Father and the Savior, and their willingness to follow them. They shouldn't allow another imperfect person to keep them from that. We go to church because we have covenanted to.
These people understood that and, in spite the choices and behavior of some of the members who had been swayed by the words of Nehor, they stayed true to what they believed and continued to stay strong and steadfast in the Church of Christ.
They didn't judge the church by the people. They followed the Lord. And because they did, they were blessed and prospered.
What did you think/learn today?
Nehor, Nehor, Nehor, oh how you sound like so many out there today! Proclaiming what you term the truth, buying people's allegiance with lies and and misperceptions, playing to their vanity. And how easily the people succumbed.
Of course they did. He made the path wide and easy. He removed the struggle, the accountability and humility and replaced it with selfishness, laziness and pride.
Sinning always seems the path of least resistance. But we see in the end of this chapter (and pretty much all cases of sinful behavior) that it is not the path to happiness. Only righteousness is.
This man, Nehor, he claimed to be a man of God, killed an elderly hero because he didn't like what he had to say. It's amazing how a wicked and weak mind can justify sinful and destructive behavior!
Then I look at the righteous who, in spite of other church members going astray and fighting, held steadfast and immovable, continually living the gospel they knew to be true. I think of people being offended when I read this. How many people do we know wait, watch and judge other members, then stop coming to church because they have been hurt or offended by someone in the church? I've known quite a few. It's sad, really. In fact, it's really sad.
There is no elequance, only truth, to this sentence: People should attend church because of their relationship to Heavenly Father and the Savior, and their willingness to follow them. They shouldn't allow another imperfect person to keep them from that. We go to church because we have covenanted to.
These people understood that and, in spite the choices and behavior of some of the members who had been swayed by the words of Nehor, they stayed true to what they believed and continued to stay strong and steadfast in the Church of Christ.
They didn't judge the church by the people. They followed the Lord. And because they did, they were blessed and prospered.
What did you think/learn today?
In verse 19 where it talks about the non-believers persecuting the members of the church, it reminded me of this other scripture I read recently, given at the Sermon on the Mount by the Saviour. Its found in Matthew 5:10-12 - "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Now to just stand there and take persecution silently, without reacting, is an extremely difficult thing to do. The best thing to do is to walk away and remove yourself from the situation. Christ wouldn't want you to get into a fight.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your comments about how people should attend church because of their beliefs, and how sad it is when they stop coming because someone has offended them. Human faults are a tricky thing. As difficult as it sometimes is, this is where we need to remember the scripture that talks about how we are required to forgive all men.
Thanks for commenting, Jo. It's nice to have you back :)
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